Frog Stickers on Their Ukulele

Chapter 2- Pax

Harry had been dozing off when he heard the train compartment door open. He peeked his eyes open just a bit, to see who it was, but perked up a bit more when he saw that it was Ron and Hermione.

"-but I just don't understand- oh, hi guys- where he could be," Hermione was telling Ron as they walked in. She flopped into the seat between Neville and Ginny, while Ron sat between Harry and Luna.

"Where who is?" Harry asked, sitting back against the window and pulling his feet beneath himself.

"Malfoy," Ron answered. "We patrolled the train at least three times, and didn't see him anywhere."

"That's odd," Harry muttered. "Maybe he finally got tired of Hogwarts?"

Ginny scoffed. "Like he'd ever miss the chance to tick you off."

"I don't know," Hermione ignored Ginny's comment, "but from what I overheard from the Slytherins, no one's seen him for over a month."

Harry had just opened his mouth, when a girl knocked on their compartment door. He exchanged a look with Ron and Hermione, before nodding at the girl for her to come in. She glared at someone down the hall, before looking at the people in the compartment.

"Got room for one more?" She asked with a very prominent American accent. Harry nodded, slightly in shock with the sudden appearance of the girl. She was very bright, in a cropped yellow sweatshirt and a black plaid skirt. Her hair was up in space buns and her skin was...Harry didn't really know. It was like she was black, but someone splattered her with white paint. "Great! Because someone refuses to let me stay in their compartment," the girl glared down the hall and stuck her tongue out.

"I never said you weren't welcome!" a female voice called from who Harry assumed was the person the girl was sticking her tongue out at.

"Like I'd want to sit in a compartment while my sister is making out with her wife!"

"Not my fault you can't handle PDA!"

The girl just flipped off the woman. "Anyways, my sister dearest is being a dick, so I'll just sit with you guys. Y'all are fifth years, right?"

"Well, Luna and I are fourth, but we hang out with more fifth years," Ginny said, with a grin on her face.

"That's alright, as long as you can handle my absolute trash can of a mouth,"

Luna spoke up, "Nothing we haven't heard from Ginny after the Harpies lose."

"Is that so?" the girl cocked an eyebrow at the youngest redhead, and, for some reason, her ears tinted red under the look. "Well, I'm Pax Griffin, and you are...?"

"Ginny Weasley," Ginny stood up and shook Pax's hand, "and that red head there is my brother Ron."

"Pleased to meet you, Ginny," Pax said with a wink. "And you, Ron," Pax shook his hand.

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione said, "This is Neville Longbottom, that's Luna Lovegood, and that's Harry Potter."

"Lovely!" Pax jumped into the small space between Harry and Ron, but managed to fit without it feeling uncomfortable. "And your pronouns?"

Everyone looked at Pax in confusion. "Pronouns?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, like what pronouns you use. At the moment, I'm use she/her pronouns," Pax explained.

"Oh, I get it!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's like what you address someone as in a sentence. Ginny, Luna and I use she/her, while Harry, Ron and Neville use he/him."

"Awesome!" Pax said.

"Pax," Hermione said, getting that look she got when she was deep in thought, "I have to ask, are you American?"

"I am!" Pax smiled. Honestly, that smile was so bright, Harry felt like the sun had walked into their compartment. "I'm from California, the golden state."

"Really? I've always wanted to go there, I hear it's very sunny."

"It is! Except for when there's wildfires..."

Pax continued to talk with Hermione about, well Harry really didn't know, so he decided to continue his nap that had been interrupted. It was peaceful, listening to his friends and their new companion talk...

-----

He was back in the graveyard. Somehow, no matter how happy he was, it always led back to the graveyard. If he was being honest, it was getting tiring, living the same moment over and over. He had seen it so many times, he could repeat what happened to every exact detail. It wasn't that he didn't care about Cedric, it just felt like he was being stabbed over and over, and now he didn't have any more blood to lose. It was all gone. He was just...empty.

"Kill the spare... Kill the spare... Kill the spare..." over and over again. Over and over on repeat. "Kill the spare... Harry! ...Kill the spare... Harry! ... The spare... Harry!"

Harry woke with a start, a little drop of cool sweat dripping down his temple. He took in his surroundings, surprised he was still on the train. His friends were all looking at him with worried gazes, except for Pax. She looked at him with a stern look, one that reminded him a lot of a certain Gryffindor professor. A small wisp of magic floated around her hand that was on his knee, before disappearing into thin air.

"Christ, not even the first day at Hogwarts and I'm already having to save someone," Pax rolled her eyes.